1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a disposable lighter, and more particularly to a childproof safety disposable lighter for preventing under age children from using the lighter.
2. Description of Related Arts
Commercially available disposable lighters are dangerous if they are handled carelessly, especially by young children. The inadvertent ignition of such disposable lighters may result in fires causing property damage and injury to people. Therefore, there is a need for a safety device that prevents inadvertent ignition of the disposable lighter, or makes the lighters difficult for children to operate. Disposable lighters are now required by federal law to contain ignition safety device in order to prevent young children from being able to ignite the lighters.
In response to the demands for a disposable lighter which is improved in safety in such a manner that inadvertent and unintentional ignition by those who are unfamiliar with the proper use of the lighter can surely be prevented. Childproof disposable lighters having different types of safety devices have already been known. Most of the safety devices built in these childproof disposable lighters have a lock mechanism which prevents depression of the actuating lever and must be released to allow the actuating lever to be depressed.
The most common kind of disposable lighter contains a safety device having an auto lock mechanism wherein a lock member automatically returns to the locked position in response to the ignition operation after the lock member has been manually moved to the released position. The operation of such safety device is unreliable because of a probability that the lock member will return to the locked position by its own reactive force due to the resilience of the material constituting the lock member. This adversely affects the ease of releasing the lock mechanism in a lighter, which is generally operated with a single finger, e.g. the thumb, and leads to different operational results depending on the users. Therefore, the conventional safety devices are disadvantageous in practical use.
In view of above, conventional childproof disposable lighters have drawbacks in practical use, and hence there has been a demand for a childproof safety device which is improved in both safety and operability.
Further, in manufacturing lighters with such a safety device, it is required to rationalize the assembling steps, to improve assembling accuracy, thereby further enhancing the handling of the safety device, and to reduce the manufacturing cost.